Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Christopher Bond (play), John Logan (script)
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck
Music: Stephen Sondheim
Starring: Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett
Sacha Baron Cohen as Signor Adolfo Pirelli
Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin
Laura Michelle Kelly as Beggar Woman
Timothy Spall as The Beadle
Anthony Stewart Head
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures
Sweeney Todd: a psycho barber and famous purveyor of dodgy pies. Chaps, what took you so long? It was screamingly obvious what a gorgeous couple you would make when the curtain lifted on Stephen Sondheim’s penny dreadful in 1979. You have so much in common: a love of London’s dark and menacing streets; a penchant for jokes that only Edgar Allan Poe could possibly find funny; and an unquenchable thirst for fresh blood.
I’ve rarely seen a film director so perfectly matched to a musical. The black magic begins when Johnny Depp’s white-faced Sweeney steals up the Thames at the dead of night. As the boat slips under a spooky London Bridge it becomes quite clear that Burton was put on earth to shoot this glorious melodrama. The wonder is that it’s taken him nearly 30 years. True, most of the cast had to grow up, and a lot of clever special effects needed to be invented. I suspect the real brakes, however, were applied by studios horrified by the idea of an ‘art house musical’.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The film unfolds like the Grimmest of tales. Depp’s bitter Sweeney returns to London after 15 years of hurt. His painful story emerges in hollow songs with haunting off-key melodies. He wears his grievances like armour. His plan to murder the men who condemned him to a penal colony in order to rape his wife hinges around the dismal attic above Mrs Lovett’s ailing pie shop. The atmosphere is vintage Hammer House. The gleaming monochrome shots of cobbled streets are drained of colour.
The musical chemistry between Depp and Helena Bonham Carter’s genial cockney pie shop mistress is terrific. Casting Depp as the stony avenger was hardly a novel stretch for Burton (who has frequently collaborated with the actor) and the director didn’t have to get out of bed to find Mrs Lovett. Bonham Carter (Burton's real-life partner) hasn’t sunk her teeth into such a rich part for years. Lovett’s unreciprocated passion for Sweeney is the heart of the film and she is far more interesting than Depp. Her lightbulb idea of stuffing Sweeney’s clients into pies seems wonderfully sensible.
The film's pace is a surprise. Burton has pruned Sondheim’s arias to fit the tempo of a thriller -- brilliant editing – and the villains are far less stocky. Sacha Baron Cohen delivers a priceless cameo as a jealous unisex rival with plans to blackmail Sweeney. Alan Rickman is a sinister pleasure as Judge Turpin. And Timothy Spall is equally effective as his ultra-violent enforcer, Beadle Bamford. Several patches of fantasy don’t work, but these are few and far between.
Burton has never been one to spare the gore. The sound of skulls cracking open when Sweeney tosses his victims head first into the basement is not for the faint-hearted. The director’s knack of finding comedy in these ghastly scenes is tested to the limit. So something for everyone then.
It is winter in Teheran. Lateef is 17. He works in a building construction managed by MEMAR, the site foreman. Lateef's job is to serve tea and prepare food for the workers with whom he is always quarrelling. The workers come from all parts of Iran. Some workers are Afghans refugees from war torn Afghanistan. They have no identity card and are employed illegally as cheap labor. When the labour inspectors show up, the Afghan workers must hide.
As the story starts, an Afghan worker, NAJAF, falls from the building and breaks his leg. He is taken to the hospital. The next day, SOLTAN, another Afghan worker, brings in RAHMAT, Najaf's son, who is around 14 to replace his father. Memar soon realizes that Rahmat is not fit for this hard work and decides to switch the jobs between Rahmat and Lateef. Lateef is furious, threatens Rahmat, tries to sabotage his work and spies on him. One day, by looking through the door where Rahmat works, he is totally shocked to discover that Rahmat is a girl. As he is watching her combing her hair, he finds himself in a strange state and surrounded by unusual sounds.
From there on his attitude changes completely, he becomes protective, helpful and gradually desperately in love with Rahmat. While Rahmat does not express herself verbally at all, with time she seems to respond to this love. During a surprise visit of the labour inspectors, they find themselves face to face with Rahmat. She panics and runs away as they chase her through the city streets. Lateef runs after them, struggles with the inspectors while Rahmat flees. Lateef is beaten up and taken to the police station. Now Memar has to pay a fine, comply with the law and lay off all Afghans.
Lateef can't bear Rahmat's absence and decides to locate Soltan to get some news of her. He goes to the village where the Afghans live, walks around, meets an enigmatic cobbler and ends up in the courtyard of a shrine near a graveyard where Afghan families are gathered for a local milk ceremony. He inquires about Soltan but gets no clues. Among the Afghans in the courtyard, stands Rahmat with girl clothes. She notices Lateef, stares at him for a while before leaving the ceremony. Lateef is not aware of her presence. The next day on the road he finds Soltan and learns that Rahmat works in the village near the river. Lateef rushes there to find Rahmat in a pitiful state, working with other women at carrying heavy stones from the river. He is distressed and wants to find a way to help her out of that ordeal.
He gets all his accumulated wages from Memar and hands them to Soltan asking him to pass them on to Najaf. They agree to meet the next day at the shrine after Najaf has given the money to Najaf. The next day at the shrine, instead of Soltan, it is Najaf who shows up to inform Lateef that Soltan has gone to Afghanistan. He tells Lateef that Soltan came to him and offered him some money he had borrowed from someone. He also tells Lateef that he has refused the money and has advised Soltan to keep it for himself and use it to leave immediately to Afghanistan where he had a life and death issue in the family. Lateef is shocked and worried.
He gets even more worried the next day when he overhears a conversation in Najaf's house that Najaf is himself now faced with family problems in Afghanistan as his brother has just been killed in the war. He also hears that Rahmat's real name is BARAN. Lateef goes back to the river to find Baran, exhausted, now carrying logs of woods out of the river in an atmosphere reminder of a war field. Powerless in front of the hardship she is going through, he returns to the construction site in a state of depression. The next morning, Najaf on his crutches is in the construction site to meet Memar. Lateef overhears Najaf begging Memar without success to lend him some money.
Lateef takes a desperate measure to get money. He goes and sells the only valuable things he still has, his identity card. When he brings the money to Najaf, it is to learn that thanks to this money, Najaf and his family are returning to Afghanistan. Lateef is overwhelmed by this news and finds refuge in the shrine. There, in a state of anguish and despair, he hears coming from all around him the same sounds he heard when he saw Baran the first time. He surrenders to his fate.
The next day in a dreamlike atmosphere, while helping Najaf to load the truck with the house effects, Lateef, now with a serene look, is finally face to face with Baran. Through eyes contacts and physical proximity they exchange their love. As Baran covers herself and walks to the truck, her shoe gets stuck in the mud. Lateef gets on his knees, takes the shoe out of the mud and hands it to Baran so she can wear it and leave. The truck takes Baran away. Left alone, in the empty place, Lateef stares at the footstep in the mud left by Baran's shoe and smiles while the rain covers it.
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Little Manhattan is a story of first love. We'll exempt teens and socially deprived (very) young adults from the potential audience for this BOTY flick and we'll yell at all the men to stay in their seats. Little Manhattan is not a chick flick in anything close to the traditional sense nor is it "romantic" to the point that any man will curl up in his theater seat and swear to make his date sit through the next Steven Seagal punchfest. For reasons that should be apparent once you wade through what follows, the farther you are from that first love, the better this film feels.
In his ever expanding world, ten and three quarters years old Gabe Burton (Josh Hutcherson) is, for most of the time, a decidedly happy youngster. He's decidedly happy because his parents, father (Bradley Whitford) and mother (Cynthia Nixon), are separating. Thanks to the economics of life in New York, they still share the same apartment and have, to some extent, started the process of moving on. That means dating. Not fun and definitely confusing for any kidlet. Because of some trouble with a local bully, Gabe begins karate classes. In his class is one Rosemary Telesco (Charlie Ray), who he last saw in kindergarten. Rosemary's parents are fabulously wealthy, and equally busy and therefore invisible, TV writer/producers. Rosemary's attendance at karate class is just another piece of her carefully scheduled life. That's what some parents do in the Big City. They treat their kids as equals. Run their lives by palm pilot or filofax or some other schedule. Let the help look after the kids.
Gabe hasn't seen Rosemary for years. The parents vaguely remember her. A friendship -- well, at karate school it really means a punch out -- begins. Before he knows it, Gabe is spending a lot of time with Rosemary. At class. In the park. Razor scooting through the streets of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Gabe is the one who has the "big" problems that he needs to confide. Rosemary is the one who comes up with potential solutions. Nothing sexual about that at all. Nothing that we're going to spill about the plot either for Little Manhattan is so well written and so story driven that giving you more than the basics will spoil the fun.
Well, OK, there is a First Kiss involved but that's as far as we'll go.
In the past we have planted for painful flicks that try to use kids to analyze their parents' world. Little Manhattan doesn't go anywhere near this route thanks to a script that is as grounded in real world perceptions as you can get. How the kids try to solve problems not of their own making is clever and entertaining; it will touch the hearts of anyone with a couple of years of emotional luggage. It also shows New York in a beautiful light.
More to the point, hanging this story on the backs of two child actors is about as dangerous as a production can get. Charlie Ray is a first timer. Josh Hutcherson has enough TV and film roles in his credits that he delivers the emotional swings of his character with all the skill of any grown actor. While Whitford and Nixon are easily recognized from their own work, this is the kidlet world we see. More to the point, Little Manhattan is built on a script that unlocks all the similar memories of any adult's first love. No violins. Nothing smarmy. Lots of emotional peaks and valleys and across the board terrific performances.
The film begins with Olive Hoober (Abigail Breslin) watching a taped beauty pageant, where the winner is shocked to hear that she won. Olive mimics the winner's shocked expression. Her father Richard (Greg Kinnear) gives a self-help seminar about how to be a winner in nine steps to a small classroom with very few people in it. Dwayne (Paul Dano) works out in his room. Grandpa (Alan Arkin), Richard's father who lives with the family, snorts heroin in the bathroom. Sheryl (Toni Collette) drives while smoking a cigarette. She's on her way to the hospital, where her brother Frank (Steve Carrell) is. Frank tried to kill himself. He can't stay at the hospital due to their insurance and the doctor tells Sheryl to watch him closely (while also informing her of hiding medication and sharp objects).
Sheryl drives Frank to her home while Frank is not in the talking mood. Since Frank cannot be by himself, Sheryl decided that Frank will share Dwayne's room. Dwayne is not exactly thrilled and goes to the dining room table to read a novel by Friedrich Nitsche while Frank sits on his bed. Sheryl gets Dwayne to set the table as Richard arrives home. Richard hears a phone message about Little Miss Sunshine, but ignores it and continues unloading their dinner (fast-food chicken). Sheryl calls out for Grandpa and Olive to come eat dinner, but their busy in the other room working on Olive's routine. She gets Dwayne to get Frank for dinner, and Dwayne signals that it's time to eat. Dwayne can talk, but has decided not to because of Nitsche. Everyone comes to the dinner table, where Frank learns more about Dwayne's vow of silence. He wants to be a pilot for the Navy, and has decided to stay silent until he goes to flying school. It's been 9 months since he's talked. He writes down a note to Frank - "I hate everyone". Frank asks if that includes his family, and Dwayne underlines "everyone". We also find out that Dwayne is Sheryl's son from a previous marriage. Grandpa complains about the chicken, and how sick he's been of eating chicken all the time.
Olive asks Frank what happened to his wrists, and Frank says that he had an accident. Sheryl, much to Richard's dissatisfaction, tells Olive the truth. When Olive asks why he tried to kill himself, Richard doesn't want Frank to answer but he does anyways. It was for a variety of reasons, though primarily it was because he fell in love with one of his students who didn't love him back (the gay student is in love with another man), got fired from his job, and got evicted from his home. Richard calls Frank a loser and tells Olive that Frank is sick. The subject changes when Richard mentions a telephone message about Little Miss Sunshine (a beauty pageant for children). Olive was a second place winner in a local pageant, but the winner was found out to be taking diet pills (so Olive is the winner by default, and she has a chance at competing for Little Miss Sunshine). Olive screams in delight and runs all over the house. Sheryl calls the person who left them the message and gets the details about the pageant. It's being held in Redondo Beach, California and is in a couple of days (the Hoovers are in Albuquerque, New Mexico). They can't fly because they're tight for cash, Richard doesn't want to go because he has an important business proposition that could be his big break, Dwayne doesn't want to go at all, Frank can't stay by himself or stay behind with Dwayne, Grandpa definitely wants to go, and Sheryl can't take her car because it won't fit everyone. It's finally settled that they will all drive to California in their VW bus (Richard will drive since Sheryl can't drive stick). However, Richard tells Olive that there's no sense in them driving out there if she doesn't think she can win. He asks her if she's a winner, and she is confident when replying "yes". They hug and he officially announces to her that they're going to California. That night, Dwayne writes to Frank "please don't kill yourself tonight" before they go to bed, and Dwayne also writes "welcome to hell".
The Hoovers drive off in their VW bus the next day for California. While Olive listens to her headphones, Grandpa tells Dwayne that he needs to have sex with as many women as he can and shouldn't limit himself to just one person. Since he's so young, he needs to start craching with the ladies and get some of the "young stuff" because before he knows it, he'll be 18 (he's 15). Richard doesn't think that it's a great discussion and tries to settle his father down while also telling him to watch his language in front of the kids. We find out that the whole family knows about Grandpa taking heroin, and he says that he should since he's old (but tells Dwayne that he shouldn't because he's so young and it'll mess him up). Grandpa makes mention that he still has Nazi bullets in his ass when Olive takes off her headphones and asks them what they're talking about. Grandpa just says politics and she puts her headphones on again. Richard tries to call Stan Grossman, the man who's helping him with his business dead, but the phone connection is bad. He then explains his business deal to Frank - he's going to write a book and give an inspirational seminar tour. Stan is going to get him the deal. No one cares about Richard's deal, and when Frank uses sarcasm Richard says "sarcasm is the refuge of losers". Frank uses more sarcasm to spite Richard and they argue while Sheryl breaks it up.
They stop at a diner and order food. Olive's parents tell her that she can only order four dollars worth of food, so she orders something in addition to ice cream. Richard tells Olive that ice cream comes from cows and that it makes people fat. He then asks her if beauty pageant winners are fat, and Olive says no. Sheryl gets after Richard for saying that, and tells Olive that they love her, fat or skinny. Because of Richard's comments, Olive doesn't want to eat the ice cream anymore. She asks if anyone else will eat it for her. Grandpa, Frank, and Dwayne all eat some to cheer Olive up while Grandpa says that he feels sorry for whoever doesn't eat ice cream. Olive, cheerful again, makes them stop and eats it herself. Dwayne shoots a straw cover at Richard's head in defiance.
Sheryl wants to learn how to drive stick, and so she makes Richard teach her in the parking lot. She is horrible at it and can't seem to shift gears. When Richard tries, it turns out he can't shift either. They go to a mechanic, who tells them that something's wrong with the shifting and they need to order a new part. Since it's out of the question to wait for it, the Hoovers decide to push the van until Richard can start the engine, and then one-by-one they all jump into the moving van. Eventually, Richard gets a call from Stan but their call is broken up. A little desperate, Richard pulls over and calls Stan from a pay phone. It turns out that the deal fell through, and is not going to happen. Richard is clearly upset. Olive exits the van to practice her routine. Dwayne goes outside to do push-ups. Sheryl goes to the bathroom. Grandpa has Frank go inside the convenience store to buy him some dirty porn. He also gives Frank extra money to buy some gay porno for himself.
While in the store, Frank runs into the student he fell in love with. He puts his arms in back of himself to hide the bandages on his arms. The student is traveling with his lover somewhere and says that he heard about Frank getting fired. Franks says that he quit and is very happy now. Things get awkward when the cashier asks for Frank's money for the dirty porn. The student takes off with his lover while Frank watches from the window, very depressed. He gives Grandpa his porn and becomes quiet. Dwayne gets back in the van. Richard tells Sheryl that the deal won't happen, and Sheryl becomes upset because they were counting on the money. Grandpa can that everyone's upset. Richard tells everyone to get in the van and they drive off after a good push from everyone.
They get back on the highway and everyone is silent. Dwayne looks around, and then writes down "where's Olive?", and they realize that they forgot her. Olive is still back at the store, unsure of what to do. They speed back to the store, but can't slow down or stop because of the damaged shifting. Frank reaches out and Olive jumps into the speeding van. By night, they drive to a motel where they get three rooms (Richard and Sheryl, Grandpa and Olive, Frank and Dwayne). Grandpa helps Olive with her routine before they go to bed (they practice growling). When it's time for bed, Olive asks Grandpa if he think she's pretty. He tells her that she's the most beautiful girl in the world, and that he's madly in love with her not because of her brains or personality. Olive is scared that she'll lose, and that her dad won't love her because she'll be a loser. Grandpa tells her that a loser is someone who quits because they're too afraid of not winning. He reassures her that they all love her and are proud of her regardless if she wins. He tucks her in for the night and takes some more heroin in the bathroom. Richard and Sheryl argue about him not getting the deal. Richard says that Stan told him it would happen, and Sheryl says that they don't have enough money for the trip and are bankrupt. They argue so loud that Dwayne and Frank can hear them in their room. Frank tries to take Dwayne's mind off it by turning on the TV (which has President Bush talking about Rumsfeld), but Dwayne turns it off and listens to the argument. He smiles on his bed when he hears his mother curse. Richard, fed-up, puts back on his shoes and tells Sheryl that he's going to fix this. He tries to start up the van, but he can't get enough momentum so he walks over to some bikers to ask for help.
We next see Richard driving one of the bikes to a city 22 miles away, where Stan is. He drives to the hotel Stan's staying at and tries to reach him. When he calls his cell phone, he can actually hear it close-by. He looks around and finds Stan (Brian Cranston), who sees who the caller is but ignores it to talk with other people. Richard makes himself known, and they go outside to the pool area to talk. Richard says that he told him it was a done deal, and Stan defends himself by saying that he tried extremely hard for people to back up Richard and his book/tour. The fact is that the problem is Richard, and that people simply don't know him (therefore they don't care about him). Richard, trying to keep face, says that this relates to the nine steps of being a winner and says that he won't give up. He drives back to the motel and sleeps.
The next morning, Olive wakes up her parents and tells them that Grandpa won't wake up. An ambulance takes Grandpa away while the family follows in their bus. Olive asks if anyone wants to take an eye test, but Sheryl calls for a family meeting in the waiting room. She tells her kids that god may want to take Grandpa, and that they should be prepared for that. She says that it's important that they all love each other, because they're family. She breaks down while Frank comforts her. Dwayne writes for Olive to hug mom, and she does. The doctor come in the room and tells them that Grandpa is dead. He took too much heroin and overdosed. He shouts for a woman to help them through the grieving process and tells them that she'll go over important information with them. The lady is rather cold and doesn't care about the family. She gives them paperwork to fill out and tells them that they can contact a local funeral home to take the body. Richard tells her that they already have funeral arrangements in Albuquerque, but she informs them that they'll need a special permit to move the body across state lines. Richard tries to make her understand that they're trying to get to California by 3pm that day, but she says that they can't abandon the body and come back for it. He asks to at least see the corpse with his family.
They go to the hospital room where Grandpa's body is. They are all sad, and Sheryl tells Olive that she'll compete for Little Miss Sunshine next year. Richard is upset about his father's death, but also knows that he would want them to make the pageant. He throws out the paperwork and decides that they are going to continue to California, with Grandpa. He wraps him in the bed sheets and sends Frank with Dwayne outside to catch the corpse from the window. Olive waits outside the room and asks as lookout. Richard puts Grandpa's body out the window and the others take it to the van. Everyone makes it ouside alright without being seen, and they put the body in the trunk. They all push the van and jump in, speeding away. Back on the freeway, they get cut-off by another car and the horn becomes stuck. They get pulled over by a police officer while the horn humorously continues to honk randomly. Richard tells everyone to act normal. The cop orders Richard to step out of the car, and due to Richard's nervousness gets probable cause to search the trunk. Richard, with his hands on the car, yells out that it's not illegal and the cop opens the trunk. The nudie magazines fall out, and the cop brings Richard back and talks about how great the magazines are. Richard agrees, and the cop is willing to let them slide with a warning if they let him keep the porn. The perverted officer, completely oblivious to the corpse in the back, lets Richard keep the gay porn magazine that Frank bought. The officer leaves. Richard gives Frank a dirty look and they continue on their journey.
Olive gives Dwayne an eye test, and she finds that he has 20/20 vision. She gives him a test to see if he's color-blind, showing him a colored square with another colored object inside it. Dwayne can't see the other object, and Frank truthfully tells him that he's color-blind, and that he can't be a pilot for the Navy because of this. Dwayne gets extremely upset and starts to hit the van. Frank yells for Richard to pull over, who's adamant about making it on time for the pageant. He pulls over though and Dwayne runs outside down a small hill. He breaks down and screams "fuck", holding his head down and crying. He then tells everyone that they're losers, and points out all their faults. Dwayne tells them to just leave him there, alone. Sheryl, shocked, doesn't know what to do. Frank volunteers to stay behind, but Richard and Sheryl won't let him. Dwayne just needs some time to himself. Richard asks if Olive would talk to him, since they're running out of time for the 3pm deadline. Olive makes her way down the hill to where Dwayne is and puts her arm around his shoulders, while also resting her head on his right shoulder. Dwayne cracks and tells them he'll go with them. He apologizes for what he said, and Sheryl hugs him. They get back into the car and speed off.
They have some difficulty finding the exit, but they finally make it to Redondo Beach. They take the wrong exit and move away from the hotel where the pageant is being held. Richard can't turn around because they're still on the freeway. They pull into a parking lot and jump the curb, driving on the sidewalk near the beach towards the hotel. They're determined to make it on time. They speed into the parking lot of the hotel and the car door breaks off when Frank opens it. Frank runs to the hotel's second floor, where the contestans are supposed to sign in. He tells them that they have one more contestant, but Pageant Official Jenkins (Beth Grant) says that they are late by a couple of minutes and refuses to allow them in. Everyone catches up and Richard literally falls on his knees and begs Jenkins to let Olive compete. She still won't budge, but another nearby pageant official allows them to sign in and compete, against Jenkins' wishes.
During this time, Olive also gets to meet Miss California, who autographs a picture of herself. Olive asks her if she eats ice cream, and she tells her that she does (along with her favorite kind). Olive smiles and walks away with her mother. Every contestant is supposed to have a talent act, and Olive's is dancing. She gives her CD to a pageant official, who looks at it with a questionable look on his face. He asks her what track, and she says 12. Turns out Grandpa picked out the CD and song. Richard calls a funeral home and says that Grandpa was asleep for 5 hours in the van when they realized that he died. When the guys come to collect the body, they find the situation bizarre since the corpse is still in the trunk, wrapped in hospital bed sheets. They take the body regardless and give Richard his father's personal affects. Sheryl takes Olive backstage to get her ready. We can see several contestants and their mothers working furiously to have their child be the best (one even sprays something on her daughter to make her look tanned). Olive puts on her outfit, and Richard grabs a seat in the audience while Frank and Dwayne sit outside. Dwayne, still not happy to be there, basically says "fuck pageants" and leaves with Frank tagging along.
The announcer introduces each contestant as they walk on-stage. Sheryl stays backstage while Richard watches the show. All the girls are wearing extravagent clothes, while Olive is just in her bathing suit. She smiles at her father in the audience and does her walk. The announcer sings a song and the pageant gets underway. Each girl does their talent act (which ranges from dancing and singing to yodeling). Richard looks worried when one contestant is extremely flexible and does gymnastics all over the stage. During this time, Frank and Dwayne are at the nearby pier. Dwayne wishes that he could just be asleep until he's 18, not experiencing high school and all of his troubles. Dwayne just wants to do what he loves and "fuck everything else". Frank tells him about a not-so-well-known author [if I may interrupt, the not-so-well-known author is actually one of France's most famous authors, Marcel Proust; but I guess he's not well known in the US], who did what he loves and cherished all the troubles he went through. Frank tells Dwayne that if he would be asleep until he's 18, he wouldn't learn more about himself and how to deal with his problems. Dwayne says that even though he's color-blind, he's going to find a way to fly for the Navy. They walk back to the pageant just in time to see yet another girl sing and dance. Disturbed, they exit quickly and Dwayne goes backstage to find Olive.
Sheryl helps Olive get ready for her talent act when Richard and Dwayne find them. They pull Sheryl aside and they both urge her not to let Olive go out there. The other kids are much better than her, and she'll be laughed at. Plus, Dwayne doesn't think much of the pageant officials, along with everyone else. Olive hears some of their conversation and looks a bit hurt. Knowing that they just want to protect Olive, Sheryl doesn't want Olive to give up. She wants Olive to be Olive, and in her eyes she's a beauty queen. Olive's act is coming up, and Sheryl lets Olive know that if she wants to quit, they won't think less of her and are still proud of her. She's already in her costume (tie, jacket, and pants). She looks at herself in the mirror and puts on her top-hat. She's going to go for it, and an impatient pageant official walks her to the stage. The Hoovers wish her good luck and rush back to the audience to get seats. Before she does her act, Olive grabs the microphone and dedicates her routine to Grandpa, who taught her all her dance moves. The announcer asks "where's your grandfather now?" and Olive replies innocently "in our trunk" while the audience doesn't quite know how to react to that answer.
"Superfreak" plays and Olive does a hilarious striptease dance to the song. She tears off her pants and throws her top-hat at the announcer. Everyone is shocked, some even insulted/disturbed. Several contestants and their mothers rudely leave while Jenkins fumes over the dance routine. Richard, Frank, Sheryl, and Dwayne stand up and try to encourage Olive by clapping to the beat. More people get up and leave, and Jenkins asks Richard what his daughter is doing. Richard replies "kicking ass!" and continues to clap. Jenkins orders the announcer to cut Olive off. When he goes back on stage and tries to make her stop dancing, Richard runs up and gets in a scuffle with the announcer. Security breaks it up, but he just asks that they let her finish her act. Jenkins still wants Olive off the stage. Richard then starts to dance to the song with Olive and then Frank runs on stage to dance too. Dwayne and Sheryl shortly follow, and they all dance on stage with Olive to the song. When it's over, the people still left in the audience clap and cheer.
Next, we see the Hoovers in the security office of the hotel. Jenkins is furious at Olive's performance, and the hotel security guard agrees to let them off the hook under the condition that they are banned from entering any more beauty pageants in the state of California. Even though Olive was disqualified and didn't win Little Miss Sunshine, her family congratulates her on her performance. Richard fixes the car door. They happily get back behind their van and push, running inside one by one. They drive off towards the security gate, where Jenkins is, waiting to pass through the security bar. The Hoovers exit through the wrong way, driving through the security bar while Jenkins looks at them shocked.
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This is a story of a music prodigy. Lyla is a renowned and beautiful cellist and Louis is a bass player in club. Lyla and Louis falls in love once they meet each other following the music. Since they have different life, they have to separate without seeing each other once again. However, Lyla has had their baby-Evan, a prodigy born to music. Lyla has an accident and bears the baby but Lyla's father gives the baby to an orphanage but does not tell her this in case of affecting her career. After that, both Louis and Lyla give up the music career. Eleven years later, the poor little Evan believes that their parents are waiting for him and goes to New York to find his parents. In New York, his music gift leads him to success but also gives him some trouble. A monger uses Evan to make money and prevents him from success. He escapes and runs into a church and people there are surprised by his gift and send him to the best music school, Juilliard. In the Juilliard school, he receive the normal education but his genius makes him brilliant and created his composition--August Rhapsody in C major. At the same time, Lyla and Louis both begin to play music again and Louis has been in New York. Because of his perfect performance, Evan is granted an opportunity to play his music in the central park in front of thousands of people. There are totally three composers and he is feathered last, in fact, his mother is the second one. As Evan is directing the orchestra to play his rhapsody, Lyla and Louis come to the concert following the music again. The family get together finally!
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The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, both Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.
A departure from the usual Sri Lankan art cinema. Prassana Vithanage successfully merges the pathos and disillusionment of the meaningless civil war ravaging his country. Subtly anti LTTE, the film portrays for the first time, the plight of the Muslim populations tribulations living in the eastern seaboard of Sri Lanka. A largely peaceful community sadly caught between the cross fire. Some excellent documentary type footage of the area.
Solid contributions from an ensemble cast of no-name actors. Expertly photographed and beautifully melancholic music adds to an altogether engrossing cinematic experience.
Originality in movies today is a rarity, with many central themes having been plundered to the point of audience exhaustion. What the viewer can occasionally hope for is a fresh new slant or re-interpretation. "Se7en" is such an example of classic horror thrills, up-ended and twisted into a bewildering and claustrophobic web of tension. Morgan Freeman plays a world-weary homicide detective who's brilliant at his job and six days away from retirement. He's handed a case involving a desperately sick and teasing serial killer, and a cocky young sidekick in the form of Brad Pitt, who's keen to prove himself in his new surroundings. Just don't yawn with a knowing derision born of such familiar plot devices. It'll only allow director David Fincher to stuff and gag you with his fiendishly unsettling take on the predictable. Despite the references to the 'seven deadly sins' and other machinations of literary origin, this is a 'chase' movie. Fincher previously murdered this sub-genre with the brutally dull "Alien 3". His techniques in "Se7en" are confidently different. In the place of the obvious is subtlety. Rather than lingering gore shots, we get a diffused layering of the visual and verbal, to nauseating effect. The pace is fast and the shocks build beautifully. The actors within it all reel with convincing horror, as the chase veers towards a growing realisation that the answer to this mystery will not soothe the frazzled viewer. 
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Fidel Castro on TV is reading a letter from Che Guevara, so we are left to grasp why Che is about to leave his family and his wife to go to Bolivia to start another revolution, this is 1966, and, in disguise, he flies to La Paz. Here he meets with two or three other revolutionaries and catches the bus, changes to a jeep and eventually arrives at a broken down old shed, far enough away from civilisation to start his insurrection. Soon he is joined by Tania another revolutionary and they go further into the jungle. Still, they go further into the jungle to a point where Che believes he can begin his campaign.
But, running out of provisions and medicines his band has to make connections with La Paz and now the Bolivian President Barrientos begins to make moves against the group, not knowing that Che is the leader. With apparent American help, the army is soon onto Che, so now we see Che hunted down, the local people are unhelpful and there's a desperate hunt for food. So he has to go wandering in yet more jungle & in familiar territory, more often having to hide from search aircraft - all the while being slowly encircled until hes caught, after being shot in the thigh. Now, justice is swiftly carried out by Sergeant Teran.